


That Potter Boy

by Craftybadger1234



Series: Missing and odd moments: Sixth Year [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bigotry & Prejudice, Gen, Hogwarts Sixth Year, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2019-07-28 14:39:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16243727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Craftybadger1234/pseuds/Craftybadger1234
Summary: Slughorn 'collected' Lily, but why wasn't he interested in 'collecting' James when James was so wealthy and well-connected?





	That Potter Boy

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to CleopatraIsMyName for looking this over for me! :)

“Marking papers?” Minerva asked as she sat at the staff room table with her own papers to mark.

“Mm,” Horace said absently, making a bright red note on a parchment in front of him. He looked up and rubbed his eyes. “Quizzes already, I’m afraid. The first years are an interesting bunch this year. A lot of potential to be found.”

“Yes, and a lot of troublemaking too,” Minerva said with a smile. “We’re only a month in and I’ve already had James Potter and Sirius Black in for detention. Those two are going to be a handful in the coming years.”

“Interesting, is it not, that Sirius Black didn’t sort to my House like the rest of his family? Disappointing really. He could do well, if he focused a little more.”

“We’ve both been here long enough to see that families don’t always sort down House lines. I believe his early friendship with James Potter influenced his sorting.”

“Potter, yes…” Horace shuffled his parchments and pulled out a scroll. “He scored rather well on his quiz. Even listed the scientific names for many of the ingredients, although we didn’t go over it in class. But I suppose with a father like his…”

“He’s impressed so far in Transfiguration. And I’ve heard Filius say he shows aptitude in Charms. Although Lily Evans seems to be edging him out as top Gryffindor student in that class.”

“Ah yes, muggleborn, isn’t she?” He shuffled his parchments again to find her quiz. He nodded to himself when he saw the lack of red markings.

“Yes. I spoke with her family myself. Her parents were eager to send her to school. So often muggle parents are reluctant or nervous but they seemed genuinely pleased.”

“Interesting,” Horace said thoughtfully. She would bear watching. Muggleborns tended to need more help getting a leg up in the wizarding world.

\--------

Horace resisted the urge to check his watch one again. He’d scheduled this quiz on a Friday so he could get out of class a little early. But Mr Lupin was taking forever to finish his work. The other three waiting on him, Potter, Black, and Pettigrew, were clearly finished already and only scribbling to look busy. He wanted to yank all their parchments away and send them off. But they technically had _all_ of the class time to finish their quiz.

Resisting a sigh, Horace only smiled politely when all four boys rose together to turn in their scrolls. He locked the classroom and settled into the staff room to finish marking the remaining quizzes. He clucked sadly as he looked over Mr Lupin’s quiz.

“Lessons not going well?” Filius asked. He set his book aside to look over the quizzes Horace had already marked.

“We had a quiz today. I’d hoped to finish early but… there are always a few slow coaches that take forever to finish. I marked most of them while I waited. Only these few left and I’m free for the weekend.”

“You had a quiz today? Why would you schedule a quiz for today?”

“Why not?”

Filius looked around and whispered, “Because of Mr Lupin.”

“What about him?” Horace felt a delicious tingle run down his spine at the ‘I have gossip’ look on Filius’s face.

“Dumbledore didn’t tell you?” Filius’s voice lowered, “He’s a werewolf, poor thing.”

Horace’s eyes widened in alarm. “What? Really?” He forced himself to relax his grip on the parchment in his hands.

“Yes, didn’t Dumbledore tell you at the start of the year? It was my understanding he spoke with each of the boy’s professors. He said to - “

“The boy is a _werewolf_? What is he doing here? He could - could kill us all!”

“Nonsense!” Filius shook his head, dismissing Horace’s concern. “He’s perfectly safe the rest of the month. Poppy takes him to a safe house to transform and treats him afterwards.”

“ _That’s_ why he’s in the hospital wing so much? This is unbelievable! How did I not know about it?”

“Well, Dumbledore asked us not to talk about it, to be sure we aren’t overheard by the other students. Wouldn’t want word getting out and ruining Mr Lupin’s education.”

“His _education_? What about our safety?”

“Dumbledore has taken care of it. Don’t you trust Dumbledore?” A flicker of doubt crossed Horace’s face at Filius’s words. Filius frowned, “We trust Dumbledore and it’s going to be fine. Mr Lupin is as welcome here as any other student. He’s an intelligent boy, deserving of a Hogwarts education.”

Horace struggled to seem nonchalant about the whole thing. Nervously, he looked down at the quiz he was marking. “Well, he’s no good at Potions. Bit of a disaster, really.”

“Hmm, perhaps because today wasn’t a good day for a quiz. The full moon was night before last. It takes a few days to recover. Which is why Dumbledore asked us to keep an eye on the lunar calendar, and not schedule anything terribly important - like quizzes - on the two or three days after.”

“Quite a lot of special treatment for the boy.”

“We do what we can to help him,” Filius said with a shrug. He paused a moment, as though to say something more, but then smiled and left.

Horace shuddered and struck through Mr Lupin’s words with a bright red stripe of ink. It was a shame, really, that Mr Potter in particular seemed keen on a friendship with the werewolf. Even young as he was, Horace could see Potter’s easy brilliance. His schoolwork seemed effortless and his familial connections were impressive. Perhaps Horace could lead Mr Potter to more productive friendships.


End file.
